GOOD AND EVIL AS TWO FRUITS

Regard good and evil as two fruits from two branches of single tree. One of the two branches bears sweet fruits and the other bitter. "You must therefore leave the cities and provinces and regions of the earth which import the fruit gathered from this tree." "Keep your distance from them and their inhabitants,... and approach the tree itself." Become its steward and resident servant, and make yourself familiar with the two branches, the two fruits and the two sides. Stick to the side of the branch bearing sweet fruit, then you will always get your food and nourishment from it. Avoid and going over to the side of the other branch, lest you eat some of its fruit and perish from its bitterness. If you make this your regular habit, you will live in tranquility, security, comfort and safety from all injuries, because injuries and all kinds of calamities are caused by this fruit. If you move away from this tree, however, and go wandering far and wide, and then some of these fruits turn up in front of you, mixed together with nothing to distinguish the sweet from the bitter, and you take your pick, your hand may settle on the bitter sort. Then you put it to your mouth, take a bite out of it and chew it, and so the bitterness gets deep into your throat and inside your gullet, into your brain and your nasal passages, affecting you as it flows into your veins and the organs of your body until you die of it. You may spit the remainder out of your mouth and rinse away the traces, but to no avail. This cannot get rid of what has already spread throughout your body, so it will do you no good. Even if you start by eating some sweet fruit, and its sweetness spreads through all parts of your body to your benefit and delight, will not satisfied with this. You are bound to take another fruit and you cannot be sure that this second one will not be bitter, with the consequences we have just been telling you about. There is no good, therefore, in being far from the tree and ignorant of its fruit. Safety lies in getting close to it and staying there. Good and evil result from the working of (Lord) Allah (Almighty and Glorious is He). It is Allah who fashions them both and directs their course. As Allah (Great and Glorious is He) has said: "Allah has created you and your handiwork." Quran (37:96) According to the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace). "Allah has created the butcher and the beast he slaughters." Remember! The actions of His servants are created by Allah, and also what they earn. He says (Exalted is He). "Enter Paradise because of what you used to do." Quran (16:32) Glory be to Him, how Generous and Merciful is He! He ascribes the work to them, and says they are entitled to enter Paradise because of their deeds, although their success is due to His help and His mercy toward them in this world and the hereafter. Glory be to Him. How Generous and Merciful is He! He ascribes the work to them, and says they are entitled to enter Paradise because of their deeds, although their success is... due to His help and His mercy toward them in this world and the hereafter. The Prophet said: "No one enters Paradise on the strength of his own deeds." Someone asked: "Not even you, O Messenger of Allah?" He replied: "Not even I, unless Allah covers me with His mercy." Placing his hand on his head as he spoke. This is related in a tradition of A'isha (may Allah be well pleased with her). When you are obedient to Allah, carrying out His order, observing His prohibitions and submitting to Him in what He has ordained, He protects you from His evil and bestows His goodness upon you. He protects you from every kind of evil, religious and worldly. As for the worldly side, there is His saying: "So it was, that We might ward off him evil and lewdness; he was one of Our devoted servants.": Quran (12:24) On the religious side, we have His saying: "What concern has Allah for your punishment if you are thankful and believe? Allah is All. Thankful. All-Knowing." Quran (4:147). How should tribulation afflict a grateful believer, when he is so closer to well-being then to such affliction, because he is so thankful? Allah, Almighty has said: "If you are thankful, I will give you more." Quran (14:7). Your faith will extinguish the flames of hell fire in the hereafter, the fire that is the punishment of every sinner, so how can it fail to quench the fire of misfortunes in this world, O my God, unless the servant be one of ecstatics chosen for saintship, for special selection and preference? In that case trials are absolutely necessary, as the means by which he is purified of the filth of passion, unworthy natural tendencies, addiction to the desires and pleasures of the lower self, confidence in creatures, liking to be near them, relying on them, feeling secure with them and enjoying their company. He must be tested until all of this melts away, until the heart is cleansed by the departure of it all, so that nothing remains but affirmation of the Oneness of the Lord (tawhidu'-rabbi), intimate knowledge of him - and the channels of the Unseen, with all kinds of secrets, lore and the light of nearness. For it is a house with no room for two. He says: "Allah has not assigned to any man two hearts within his body." Quran (33-4). He also says: "King, when they enter a township, ruin it and make the noblest of its people the lowest." Quran (27-34). The evict the nobles from their good positions and their comfortable way of life. Sovereignty over the heart belonged at first to Satan, to the passions at their command, committing various sins and vanities and hoaxes. But now that sovereignty has passed away, and the limbs and the organs are at rest. "The house of King, which is the heart, has been vacated, while the courtyard, which is the breast, has been swept clean. The heart has now become a dwelling for the affirmation of Oneness, insight and knowledge. As for the courtyard, it is the landing ground for receiving and wonders from the Unseen." "All this is the result and fruit of trial and tribulation." The prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) has said: "We, the company of prophets, are the people most severly tried, followed by others according to their levels of perfection." He also said: "I am the one amongst you who knows Allah best and who fears Him most." Whoever gets close to the King in grave peril and must be very wary, for he is in the King's view, where his conduct and movements are unconcealed. Perhap you will say: "The entire creation in the sight of Allah (Almighty and Glorious is He) is like a single person, with nothing hidden from Him, so what is the point of this statement?" Well, we respond to you by saying; "When a person hold a high position and his rank is noble, his risk is all the greater, since he is obliged to show gratitude for what He has bestowed upon him, in the shape of enormous blessing and favors." The slightest negligence in serving Him in a dereliction of gratitude to Him, and that is a shortcoming in one's obedience, Allah, Almighty has said: "O wives of the prophet! Whosoever among, you commits a flagrant indecency, the punishment for her will be doubled." Quran (33:30) He told them that because He had blessed them so completely through their union with the prophet. So how must it be for one who attains to contact with Allah (God) and nearness to Him? Allah is Exalted far above and beyond all comparison with His creation: "There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing." Quran (42:11) Allah is the Guide! From Empty Hands, A. Rahman bin Mahadi. Labis, Johore. 016-602 0321 / 017-716 1330. 17 JANUARY 2014. Next Topic: 1. "Air Mani Yang Penuh Rahsia" 2. "It Is The Soul Experience That Matters"